Monday, December 15, 2014

I hope Mom's recovery is going smoothly. I'm
staying in Bay Roberts with Sister Mangelson for another transfer. This
will be the longest I have been in one area. At the end of this next
transfer I will have been here for six months. I got Mom's package a
couple weeks ago, just forgot to tell her last week that I got it. Thank
you! No snow here. I hope you have a white Christmas! The chances here
are pretty slim. It's been fairly mild the past couple days. Tell David
congrats on his bio exam! That's awesome!(David scored 100% on his biology final.)

The nativity display
ended last night. I attached some pictures of it for you. We had over
230 nativity displays from all around the world. Pretty neat! We were
able to share the He is the Gift and The Nativity videos with everyone
that came in.

We had a Christmas Zone Conference on Friday.
We watched Meet the Mormons, had a white elephant gift exchange and had a
visit from Santa and his elf (aka the Assistants). Afterwards a bunch
of us went downtown St. John's to sing some Christmas hymns.

Will 12:00 your time work for you all to Skype on Christmas? It will only be 45 minutes long.

This week has been an unusual one. We spent a lot of
time preparing for the nativity display. We set up over 200 nativity
sets, Christmas decorations, lights, and fake snow. It truly is
beautiful! Last night we watched the Christmas devotional amid all the
nativities. It was a neat experience. We participated in a town parade
on Saturday in which we handed out candy and invites to the nativity.

Last
week we met a woman outside her home while we were knocking (on that
same street I told you about last week that we couldn't find forever).
She invited us in to watch the Joy to the World DVD with her, her
friend, and her two daughters. It was an answer to my prayers as well as
hers. Hearts are truly softened at Christmas time. It is such a
blessing!

We had a powerful branch testimony
meeting yesterday. I felt the Spirit so strongly as the few members that
were there shared their testimonies of the Savior. I am grateful for
the strong members in this branch and their example to me. I have much
to learn from them and their desire to serve the Savior.

We
also participated in a community choir concert this last weekend. Elder
Walker and I played a piano and violin duet of a mash up of What Child
is This and Carol of the Bells.

Monday, December 1, 2014

I learned some powerful things this week. Last
Monday, I had a rough day. Finally just before going out to work that
night, I knelt down and pleaded with the Lord to help me. We went out
knocking on this street that we had been trying to get to for weeks. The
name on our map and the actual name of the street were different and so
each time we went out to find the street, we got confused. We finally
figured out the issue and made it to that street that night. As we were
walking along, we came to a track around a soccer field and noticed some
people walking on it. We joined a mother and daughter and started
talking to them as we walked around and around the track. We had a great
conversation and then asked if we could come to their home to teach
them more. The mother declined. After such a good conversation, we felt
taken aback that she would say no. Sister Mangelson asked why and the
woman became emotional. She told us about a struggle she and her family
is facing. The Spirit was so strong as we testified to her about the
Savior and His Atonement. We haven't had contact with them since, but I
keep praying that the Lord will put us in their path again. It was no
coincidence that we made it to that street that night. During our
conversation with them, we asked them how often they came to the track.
The mother said this night was the first time and that her daughter had
been trying to convince her to come to the track with her for weeks. No
wonder we hadn't made it to that street before! God needed us to be
there that night. I know that the Lord answers prayers. He is so aware
of each of us, and He wants to help us. The answers don't always come
when we want them to, but as we go through those periods of darkness or
confusion, it provides a stark contrast to the light that God will pour
into our lives when the time is right. Walking away from the track that
night, I realized the reason why I needed to go through a hard time
earlier that day was that so I could testify with power of the Atonement
from my own personal experience.

I hope that you have a good
week! Christmas festivities are in full swing this week. The branch
starts the nativity display this weekend and I am looking forward to the
missionary opportunities it will provide.

Also, had our first snowfall this week. It's mostly gone now. Other
exciting things from this week. We visit a woman in a manor and she
invited us to come see an accordion band. Quite the experience! One of
the instruments was the ugly stick. Yes, ugly stick. It's a traditional
Newfoundland instrument. She had a name but I don't remember what it is
now. Betty or something.

First Snowfall

The Accordion Band

The Newfoundland Ugly Stick

Me with the ugly stick. I think I need to change instruments! Haha.

If you haven't already, check out the new video that the Church put out for Christmas at christmas.mormon.org. He is the Gift. Christ is the reason. Love is always in season.